Skating Dreams
by graywords-girl
Summary: [DISCONTINUED]AU Lina and Zel are figure skaters who are looking for new partners. Things don't quite hit off on their first meeting, though. Contains my usual pairing, this is a side project for when I'm not working on R
1. Default Chapter

Chapter 1

Okay, this is just a story I came up with on the ice. Yes, I do ice-skate, and I'm working on my axel, so don't you dare say I don't know what I'm talking about! Quick warning, this will eventually turn into a L/Z. This is what I'm going to be working on while I'm not working on R&F.AU, so the characters will be OCC, somewhat.

~***************~

            Red hair glimmered in the lights over head. Red eyes blinked as the wind blew into them. Lina Inverse did a Mohawk and aligned her feet perfectly. Her red shirt was wet from sweat as she went through her program over and over. Taking a deep breath, she pushed her self up while pulling her arms in, doing two full rotations and landing in the proper position, a perfect double loop. 

            As Lina went into a layback spin, a new figure emerged onto the slick white surface. His long golden hair flew backwards as he glided up to Lina. Gourry Gabrief placed his hands on Lina's waist, gently enough not to hut her, but strong enough to lift he. They skate backwards for a moment, Lina winced more than once because of her partner's sloppy footwork, and then Gourry lifted her above his head, and leaned back to far.

            Both went crashing down hard onto the slippery ice.

            "Oh god, are you two alright?" Filia Ul Copt, Lina's trainer, skated towards the two with grace.

            "Gourry!" Lina erupted. "We have been doing this move for three weeks now! It's a simple lift! You should be able to do this!!!"

            "Sorry Lina," Gourry replied sheepishly. 

            "Look, you two have been working very hard today, why don't you head home Gourry?" Filia suggested with a sweat drop. Gourry hurried off the ice and Lina skated back with Filia. "Lina, I take it you need a ride?"

            "Yeah, you wouldn't mind, would you?" Lina asked as she changed out of her skates, a beautiful and well-kept set of Ridels.

            "Of course not, Lina." Filia replied, pushing a few golden strands of hair out of her blue eyes. She led Lina to her car, a lovely yellow Eclipse. As they got in the car, Filia turned on the radio tot eh news station to learn of traffic. 

            "So, any new leads on a partner for me?" Lina asked, pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head.

            "Nope, none of the trainers I've talked to seem to have what we're looking for." Filia responded, switching on her turn signal. The sun was high overhead; it was only mid-noon. Filia smirked, so what if she told a little lie, Lina was going to be so surprised!

            "Uh, Filia? My house is that way." Lina jerked her thumb behind them, pointing towards a set of apartment buildings.

            "We're not going to your house, I'm taking you to the mall." Filia smiled as she pulled into the parking lot. "You need a break."

            Lina rolled her eyes, not only was Filia her coach, but a close friend as well. "All right, lead the way!"

            Zelgadis Greywords sighed as he ran his stony blue fingers through his wire-like hair. He winced when he heard his partner, Amelia; once again crash into one of the plastic windows that lined the mall's rink. Amelia was everything Zelgadis was not. She was hyper and cheerful all the time, and she was _human_. Zelgadis was calm, and took everything in life. 

            "Mr. Zelgadis!!!" Zelgadis cringed when the cheerful voice rang out.

            "Yes, Amelia?" He answered, though not looking at her blue eyes.

            "Mr. Xellos is, oh, no, wait, he's over there!" One word came to mind when he thought of his trainer: Fruitcake.

            Xellos skated up to Zelgadis; his amethyst eyes that matched his shoulder length hair were closed, as usual.

            "Well, hello there, Zel-kun!" He said, and watched with an amused smile as Zelgadis shivered slightly.

            "What do you want, Fruit? If it's not about a new partner, I don't want to hear it." Zelgadis said the last part quietly, so Amelia wouldn't hear. The last thing he wanted was to have her crying _again_.

            "Well, I just came to tell you that I might have a promising lead." He watched as Zelgadis's expression lightened. "You see, my friend has a young skater, around your level, who is also in need of a new partner."

            "New partner?" Zelgadis repeated, raising a stony eyebrow slightly.

            "Yes, it appears her old partner was not exactly what she was looking for." Zelgadis once again winced as Amelia hit the plastic again.

            "Well, she can't be as bad as Amelia. When can I meet her?"

            "Um, well, I still have to work that out."

            "Meaning you haven't even asked yet."

            "Come now! I have so, Zel-kun! I'm supposed to meet them here in a few minutes!" Xellos said in his defence.

            "I'll believe _that_," Zelgadis said as he skated off to work on his program. "When I see it."


	2. Set

Chapter 2

Hey! Okay, let's see, what have I got planned for Lina and Zel? Read to find out!

~*****************~

            Zelgadis sighed as he checked his watch, the one that he really wanted to fireball. It read 6:45, which meant it was 6:20. No matter the time, they were still late. He impatiently, though lightly, tapped his fingers on the blue table of the mall's food court, which was right beside the rink. He was about to get up when two girls entered. Now, this wouldn't have been so odd, if one of them didn't have skates, and a good set, too.

            Xellos stood and walked over to the blond. "Why, hello Filia!" He turned to the red head who had her hair up. She was wearing, as odd as it was for summer, black sweatpants and a tight fitting yellow cut off. "And hello Lina-chan!"

            "Buzz off, fruit." Was Lina's reply. She walked over to the table he was sitting at and took a seat. She began to put her skates on, and turned to him. "Look, I'll only be here for a second."

            After placing her skates on, she stood and headed for the rink. Zelgadis stood and followed her as Xellos and Filia began to talk.

            "Why are you following- oh." Lina was about to protest, but then she saw his skates. "So you're the one Filia had set up." She stepped onto the ice with Zelgadis following her.

            "Yeah, I'm Zelgadis Greywords." He extended a hand for her to shake, but she ignored it.

            "Lina Inverse." She skated up to the music box that produced the music on the ice and popped in her own CD. "Greywords," She motioned for him to come over. When he did she produced a sheet of paper.

            "What's that?" Zelgadis asked.

            "My old program," Zelgadis was about to protest. There was no way she was going to get him to start a program so soon! But then she did a tiny fireball and burned the program to a crisp. "There, no more program. Zel, you any good at wing skate?"

            "Wing skate?" He asked, he had never heard that term before.

            "Apparently not. Geez, you are stupider than you look."

            "WHAT?"

            Filia and Xellos watched as Zelgadis chased Lina around the ice. They had both heard her little remark, and were more than happy to let Zelgadis have her for it. Filia smiled, though not as much as Xellos, and extended her hand to him.

            "So the deal is set!"

            "Set!" Xellos repeated, shaking her hand. It was then that Filia realized where his other hand was.

            "WHY YOU NAMAGOME!!!!!" She screamed and jumped up, trying to hit Xellos.

            "Where are you going?"

            Lina rolled her eyes; this guy was going to bug her. "If you must know, I'm going to get a cup of coffee." Zelgadis followed her over to the food court, with the same intent.

            "Coffee," Lina said as she approached the counter. She noticed Zel following her, and sighed. "Make that two."

            "Coming right up, Lina." The dark haired girl behind the counter smiled and looked up, allowing her green eyes to be visible.

            "Oh my god!!! Sylphiel? What are you doing here?" Lina asked as Zelgadis caught up.

            "I got a job working for the food court, here's your coffee. My shift ends at seven, want to go window shopping?" Sylphiel asked with a warm smile.

            "Maybe, depends, I snagged a ride with Filia," Lina said as she picked up her two coffees. Sylphiel smiled and nodded.

            "Well, if you can, I'll wait by the rink for you." Lina smiled as she shoved the other cup in Zelgadis's face.

            "Sounds good. See you, Syl." Lina smiled and waved as she took a seat, with Zelgadis following her.

            "You didn't have to," He began.

            "I know, but I'm not that cruel!" Lina gave him a wink. "And any way, I think I'm going to have to hit you up for a ride."

            "What? Why?" Lina pointed behind him and Zelgadis saw why. Filia was chasing a certain purple-haired instructor around with a big mace.

            "That's why, that crazy woman is the one who drove me here."  Zelgadis nodded in understanding, and turned back to his coffee.

            "I guess I would do the same." He admitted. Lina smiled.

            "Thanks Zel!"

            "Zel?" 


	3. Thunderstorms

Chapter 3

            Lina pushed her sunglasses onto the top of her head as Zel switched gears. The blue convertible was a beauty, with out a single dent or scratch. Her hair blew behind her as they picked up speed.

            "Thanks again for the ride," She said, turning to the driver. Zel offered her a smile and slowed to a stop at the light.

            "No problem. Which way?" He looked in his rear view for a second, and then waited for the light.

            "Keep going straight, at the next light turn left into Atlas Apartments. It looks like we're going to get some rain." Lina looked up as Zel switched on the weather report.

            "Today we will be experiencing thunderstorms towards 8 o'clock this evening. Expect heavy rain and," Zel switched off the report and sighed.

            "And I thought it would be okay to take the convertible today." Lina smiled at him as they turned into her apartment ring.

            "There's a garage you can park her until after the rain stops. Besides, I was going to ask to come in any way." Lina hopped out of the car and gave him a wink. She pointed to a small garage off to the side. "It's right over there,"

            Zel drove over and parked his car, after locking it, and walked over to Lina. "Thanks,"

            "My turn to return the favor, come on." Lina led him up the stair to the third story of apartments 24-34.

            She led him to apartment 31 and pulled out a key, and then opened the door. "Miki? Miki, I'm home!" She called. Her apartment had three rooms that were separated by doors the bedroom, the bathroom, and the guest room. The kitchen and living room were joined. In the living room there was a sky blue couch, a comfortable looking chair, and a television. Out of nowhere a calico jumped onto her head.

            "Oh, Miki, there you are! You had me worried! Go ahead and make your self comfortable, Zel, and I'll make some coffee." Zel nodded and wandered over to the couch. When he got there, he noticed several pictures sitting on a small table. They were of Lina and a few others. The most recent were of Lina, Filia, the girl Sylphiel, and a tall blonde man. All of them were holding a set of figure skates.  

            Lina walked over with the coffee and noticed Zel's eyes were on her pictures. She smiled and handed him his cup. "That was Christmas last year."

            Zel looked up and accepted the coffee. "That girl from the mall is in it." He said as he took a sip.

            "Sylphiel is one of my skating friends, the big man, he was my old partner, Gourry Gabrief." Zel nodded in understanding. "We're going to have a similar party this Christmas. I guess this year we're going to have some extras."

            Zel looked at her in surprise. "You mean he's not mad at you for getting another partner?"

            Lina sat down next to him and set her coffee down. "No, Gourry and I have been friends for years, even before we were partners. He's still my friend, and besides, I gave Syl a chance."

            Zel raised an eyebrow. "A chance?"

            Lina smiled at her new partner. "Yeah, one, she's wanted to go pairs for a while, two she's had a huge crush on Gourry for a while, and three, It would be a good experience for her." Lina ticked off each reason her figures. Then, the lights went out and it was completely dark.

            "Oh, lovely, power out!" Lina called.

            "Uh, Lina, why did you do that?"

            "Hm? Oh, the walls here are thin, so if you call out, the people next door can hear you. I did it so that they wouldn't freak." Zelgadis nodded. Both of them jumped when a crash of thunder and a bolt of lightning filled the dark sky.

            "Oh joy," Zel said in sarcasm. 


	4. A new rink

Chapter 4

Hi! I'm glad you guys like it. I will make this one longer for you guys, I'm glad to know that one of my fav authors (Actually, one's an author, the other's a fan, hee! ~_^) like it! There's a friend of mine in here,  my friend from the rink, Megan! Okay, enough mindless babble from the Author, here you go!

~**************~

            Lina peeked her eye open as the sun streamed through her drapes, and then immediately rolled over. Her alarm clock, which was red and shaped like a flame of some sort, went off and then made a new friend; the wall, where it continued ringing. 

            Lina moaned as she rolled over once more, this time onto the floor. Now, I'm sure we have all had days like this, you wake up and nothing good happens? Well, Lina's got it worse, to top it all off, she had a migraine.  Growling and mumbling about how she was going to kill the first thing she saw, she got off the floor and wandered out to her kitchen. She pulled out a bottle of aspirin and took two, then turned around, and saw her new partner sprawled on her couch, deep asleep.

            "What the," She mumbled while rubbing her temples. _Oh, that's right, he had to stay because of the storm, it's a good thing it's Sunday. _She walked over and collapsed on the chair. As she did, Zelgadis began to wake up. He moaned and then he himself had a nice meeting with the floor.

            Lina giggled and tossed the aspirin bottle to him, and accidentally hit him on the head. He grabbed his head and looked for what ever had hit him.

            "What was that?"

            "That was aspirin, I figured you might have a headache." Lina smiled and helped him to his feet. "Looks like the sun decided to come out this morning."

            "Yeah," He agreed sitting on the couch. Lina stood up and walked to the kitchen. 

            "So, you want any breakfast?" She called out while pulling out a package.

"Coffee," He responded.

"I figured." After getting the coffee started, Lina wandered back over and sat beside him. "What have you got planned today?" 

"What? Oh, nothing really," He said, picking up the aspirin bottle and taking a few himself. "Sundays I usually just take it easy,"

"Well I do, and since I need a ride," Both winced when they remembered that Filia had smashed both her car, and Xellos's. "You're going to take me!"

"What?" Zelgadis turned to her. 

"Oh, come on, don't you like me?" Lina put on her cute act, pouting to get him to do it.

"Well, yeah, but," Zelgadis stuttered, trying to find a way out.

"If you like me, wouldn't you do it?" Lina asked, giving him puppy eyes.

"What are you," He said, still trying to escape the grasp of the act.

"Would you do it for me?" Lina asked, smiling, she almost had him.

"Well, yeah," 

"Great!" Lina jumped up and bounced off to her room. "I just have to get ready!"

Zelgadis only sat there, wondering; _now how did she do that? _She came back out a few minutes later, dressed in a yellow short-sleeved shirt and red jean shorts, and with a cat on her shoulder. She walked over into the kitchen and pulled out some cat food. She then reached on top of her refrigerator and pulled down a few lollypops. Smiling, she selected one at random and wandered over to him.

"Okay! Let's go!" She said, still smiling. Sighing, he shook his head and walked out the door, pausing briefly to wait for Lina as she locked the door.

They headed out of the apartment ring and headed in the general direction of the mall. Lina had, for some odd reason, grabbed her red jacket before they left.

"Now how did you get me to do this? Left or right," Zelgadis said as they approached an intersection.

"Right, I guess it's because I'm so unbearably cute!" Lina answered. Zelgadis shook his head.

"Right, keep telling your self that and it might come true," Lina then began to hit while shouting to shut up. "Hey! I'm driving here!"

            Lina stopped and laughed nervously. "Sorry! But that was pretty mean,"

            "Right, I'll remember that, which way?"

            "See that big blue building?" Lina pointed off to the side where a big building was.

            "Yes," Zel answered.

            "That's where we're headed."

            They entered the parking lot, which was incredibly busy. On the side of the building were big white letters: A H S A. They parked and Lina popped his trunk, pulled out their skates, and dragged him into the building.

            Inside the building it was quite cold, with people scattered all over. There was a counter with a cash register the minute you walked in, and to the left there was the snack bar. There was a set of double doors with the words SOUTH RINK written above them, and then a long hallway that led to an area with a lot of benches, which were mostly occupied. Lina grabbed him and dragged him to a bench. Sitting on the bench was a tall girl with straight jet-black hair pulled into a high ponytail. She looked up revealing dark brown eyes. (Think Korean!)

            "Hey Lina! Nice to see you!" Lina and the girl gave each other a quick hug. "Oh, wait, where's Gourry?"

            "Gourry's not my partner anymore, Meg, This is Zel, my new partner." Lina introduced him and 'Meg' smiled. "Zel, this is Megan."

            Zelgadis nodded and turned to Lina. "Is there a reason we're here?" Megan giggled.

            "Still have to break him in, eh Lina?" She asked. Lina smiled and nodded.

            "You've never skated at this rink before, right?" Zel shook his head and Lina went on.  "Well, you're going to try it. Today is the best day for skating!"

            "I beg to differ, this rink is way to crowded."

            "Nope, this is slow for a normal day Keep in mind that there's a hockey game going on, hence all the people with sticks?" Zelgadis then noticed the people spoken. "Now get your skates on, we're going skating."

~*****************~

Pretty short, eh? Well, don't worry, next chapter I'll have Lina and Zel on the ice.


	5. A match made in heaven

Chapter 5

            Lina skated onto the ice, with Zelgadis following. Several people waved to her and said hi, but she simply waved and glided up to two people. Zelgadis recognized them as the two in the picture, Sylphiel and Gourry. The two were standing there, talking idly, until Lina skated up.

            "Hi Lina!" Gourry greeted her with a goofy smile, one in which he obviously had no idea how dumb it looked.

            "Hello Lina," Sylphiel said with a warm smile. Lina offered them a wink and then turned to Zel.

            "Syl, Gourry, this is my new partner, Zelgadis." Lina motioned to the chimera behind her, who was trying to get a feel for the ice.

            "Hi, Gah!" Zel cried out as he slipped backwards. Lina giggled and offered him a hand.

            "They zambonie the ice here once every two hours," She explained. "Hey, Gourry, Sylphiel, wanna go wing skating?" Lina nudged Sylphiel towards Gourry, who was completely oblivious towards the hint.

            "W-why sure, G-Gourry, would you like to skate with me?" Sylphiel managed to stutter out, blushing wildly.

            "Sure!" Gourry offered his arm to her, and Sylphiel's nerves calmed a bit as she accepted. Lina smiled as she watched them.

            "So, Zel," Lina leaned forward towards Zel. "You wanna join them?"

            "You never explained wing skate to me." Zel said as he watched Sylphiel and Gourry talk, waiting for a song.

            "Oh, right, well, basically," Lina thought for a minute. "Ever heard the expression 'Just wing it'?

            "Yes,"

            "That's basically what wing skate is. You just basically try and have fun while making up a program to music you like."

            "Oh,"

            "Want to try with me? It might help us out with making a real program." Lina offered. Zelgadis thought for a moment and shrugged.

            "Why not?" Lina pulled him over to the center of the ice and took and starting position, where Zelgadis did the same. They stood beside the other pair. Lina winked to the DJ, who the placed on a moderate paced song. The music blared through the speakers as people gathered around the edges of the rink to watch.

            _"Baby you're all that I want, when you're lying here in my arms, and I'm finding it hard to believe, we're in heaven, We're in heaven" _The song went, Lina began to skate, fast, on the ice, with Zel following her movements. She did a quick Three-turn where Zel placed his hands gently on her waist and they continued to skate, they slowed their pace as the music did.

            _"Oh, thinking about our younger years, there was only you and me, we were young and wild and free," _Sylphiel and Gourry stopped and joined the other on-lookers, watching as Lina and Zel went into a Flying Camel spin side by side. The two regained their composer from the spin and once again Zel guided Lina across the ice.

            _"Now nothing can take you away from me, we've been down that road before, but that's over now. You keep me coming back for more," _They continued like this, perfectly anticipatingeach other's movements.

            _"Baby you're all that I want, when you're lying here in my arms, I'm finding it hard to believe, we're in heaven," _The song continued until it reached it's final beat, when Zel and Lina reached their finishing poses. 

            Lina burst into laughter and managed to crawl off the ice, with Zelgadis, Gourry and Sylphiel following.

            "For god's sake, Lina, how long have you two been working on that for?" Sylphiel asked when Lina began to calm down.

            "That's just it, Syl! That was wing skate! We have never actually tried a program together!" Lina said, and then snatched a bottle of water from Zel's hands.

            "You're serious?" Gourry asked, completely stunned. Lina nodded as she took a huge gulp of water from the bottle.

            "Yeah, weird, eh?" Lina said. Both Sylphiel and Gourry looked at each other and nodded.

            "You two have it, all right." Gourry said.

            "Have what?" Was chorused from both Lina and Zel.

            "You two are a perfect skating match." Sylphiel said, smiling. "I have never seen people work so well together on their first try."

            Lina raised and eyebrow, but didn't question. Instead she turned to Zel. "Hey, it's almost noon, you want to go get some lunch?" Zel nodded and sat down next to her.

            "May as well," He said as he began to take off his skates. Lina smiled and followed suit.

            "Okay, we'll see you two later!" Lina called as she walked out with Zelgadis towards his car.

~***************~

Okay, first off, the song is called "Heaven" and it belongs to DJ Sammy. Next off, I'm giving you guys a choice; I can either go straight to the first idea for the next chapter, (Which will happen later either way) Or I can have a cute Side-story with Gourry and Sylphiel. In the original idea, I was going to have a little problem happen for Lina and Zel and then slowly begin to lean towards their relationship. It's your choice, the one with most votes wins!


	6. School's in session

Chapter 6

Hey! Okay, for those of you who read R&F, you already know that I'm going to be slow on the updates for a while, but I will try to keep up. By the way, most voted for choice #1! So I'm going start leaning towards a big problem! Ok! Here we go!

~**************~

            The weekend was over, so much for being lazy. Now there was school, lost papers, tests and exams, awful cafeteria food, preps, jocks, and teachers to worry about. Yep, that just spelled out Atlas High.

            Lina sighed as she walked down the hall towards her first class. She was early, as usual, but she wanted to get a good few minutes of chat time with Filia and Sylphiel. Filia was her coach, but they had gone to the same school since pre-school. She winced when she walked by the preps, one extremely annoying one by the name of Nahga had started laughing after saying something about out of date clothes.

            Lina entered her classroom, science with Rezo. Rezo had always insisted that they call him by his first name; everyone agreed that he was the weirdest, and possibly the most crazy, teacher in the school.

            "At least he doesn't assign homework," Lina mumbled as she took her usual place beside Filia, who was struggling with papers, probably the weekend's homework. That was another good thing about Rezo, he let them sit where ever they wanted. 

            The classroom was large, with around twenty tables that could sit three people. The tables were set up in columns of five and rows of four. There was soft blue carpeting and a giant chalkboard in front of the room. In the back there were three doors. One led to inventory, as Rezo called it, another led to the lab, and the last was another way into the hallway.

            "Morning Lina," Sylphiel leaned her elbows on Lina and Filia's shoulder and popped her head between them.

            "Morning Syl," Lina said, yawning slightly. She glanced at Sylphiel through the corner of her eyes, and noticed that she was extremely happy. She smiled. "Lemme guess, Gourry asked you out?"

            Sylphiel's expression brightened, if possible. "Yes! And I'm so happy!"

            "Hey, did you guys hear about the new student?" Filia said, marking something on one of her papers.

            "New student?" Both Lina and Sylphiel chorused.

            "Yeah," Gourry said, taking a seat beside Sylphiel. "He came from that one high school that burned down, you guys saw it on the news, right?"

            Line thought back to the previous nights new cast. Some kid had gotten mad at one of his teachers, so he came back later and tried to burn down the school. (AN I did this for my friend Maria, she has this obsession with trying to burn down the school. Luckily, she has never actually tried, thank god!) The fire was huge, and spreading. Several people were evacuated. Lina wasn't surprised that they had new student, she expected more. They were the closest school to the one that burned down.

            "I heard he's the grandson of Professor over there," Filia said, jerking her head towards the chalkboard, where Rezo was standing. He was busy writing this huge formula on the board. 

            "Really? He must be smart," Gourry said, and then he caught sight of the formula. 

            "Don't count on it," A voice from behind them said, causing Lina to jump. She turned and came face to face with one of the richest kids in the school, Amelia Wil Tesla Sailune. She was usually a sweet and kind girl, but today she was glaring daggers at Lina.

            "Hey Amelia," Lina said, slightly nervous.

            "Hello Gourry, Sylphiel, Filia," With that, Amelia turned and walked over to a seat that on the far right of the room, just as the late bell rang.

            "Alright, class, calm down and take your seats," Rezo said, putting down his chalk. "Today we have a new student attending our class. He has experienced a little shock from the fire last night, but he is fine. Everyone, meet my grandson Zelgadis Greywords." With that, the stony chimera entered with a less than pleased look. Lina nearly fell over, Sylphiel waved, Filia glanced up, Gourry was to busy trying to run from the formula, and Amelia turned her nose up.

            "Hey Zel!" Lina jumped up from her chair, smiling happily. She walked up and grabbed him by the arm. "You can sit with us!"

            "What? Lina, what are you doing here?" Zel asked as Lina pushed him into a seat.

            "This is my school, silly!" She said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

            "Oh," Zelgadis said, still a little surprised. Then he caught sight of Amelia. "Uh, Lina?"

            "Take your seats! Lunch is in another three periods, you can talk then!" Rezo demanded, and then began to explain the formula, much to Gourry's dismay. 

            Lunch came slowly, though I'm sure you all know that after lunch the day breezes by, it's getting there that's the problem. Well, Zelgadis found himself standing in the cafeteria, not entirely sure what to do. He had found out earlier that this school was insane, even the principle had gone off the deep end.

            "This place is insane," He mumbled as he looked around. The cafeteria was packed; almost every seat was taken. And as if being new wasn't enough, people were cowering at the sight of him. "Well, that's what I get for agreeing to help Rezo with one of his experiments."

            Just then he thought he heard music. He followed the sound, and came upon a group of students. They were crowded around some others, who, from what he could see, were dancing. He worked his way through the crowd, and was surprised to find Lina.

            She was sitting on the big steps that the school had in the courtyard. Beside her she had a boom box, Gourry, and another girl whom he hadn't seen before. The song that was playing he hadn't heard before, but Lina was singing along to, as was the other girl. In the center of the circle of people, Filia and Sylphiel were dancing to the fast pace of the song.

            Lina caught sight of Zel and smiled. "Hey Zel! Over here!" She waved him over. He walked pasted the crowd ad took a seat beside Lina.

            "What's going on?" He asked as Sylphiel and Filia finished.

            "The school won't pay for an official dance team, so we have to work on our routines, go to competitions, get our equipment and stuff on our own." Lina smiled as Filia took control of the boom box.

            "Your turn, Lina!" She said as she began to go through a couple of CDs. "Syl and I will help out, hi Zel."

            Lina and Sylphiel headed towards the center as Filia put in a CD. Soon a quick paced song began.

            _"Come, shake your body baby, do that conga! I know you can't control you self any longer," _This was a song Zel knew; he had heard it on the radio before. The girls began to move together, in perfect sink as if they had practiced it a million times to perfection.

            _"Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger, don't fight it till you've tried it, do the conga beat!" _As they danced, the girls sang along with the song. They were laughing and all had ear-to-ear smiles.

            _"Everybody, gather round now, let your body feel the heat, don't you worry, if you can't dance, let the music move your feet!" _They continued until they all fell over with laughter. Zelgadis couldn't help but smile. As they had danced, they looked like had when they were on the ice.

            "That was great!" The girl Zelgadis had noticed cheered, smiling happily. "Man, you guys are smooth!"

            "Smooth?" Zelgadis echoed, leaning towards the fallen Lina.

            "Means great," Lina explained, getting off the cement. The bell rang, and everyone began to scramble to get his or hers things. "Zel, meet me here after school!" Lina said as she left for her next period.

            "Uh, okay,"


	7. Program so soon?

Chapter 7

Oh, god guys… I'm so sorry for not getting this chapter out sooner.  I've been sick and have been taking a lot of naps, and I really didn't have time to get it out until recently, please forgive me. On the good side of things, I've come up with the story line of a new adventure. I wont be posting it until I've finished this and R&F, but that wont be a long wait, at least for R&F. Look at my profile for more info about this new story.

Well, HERE WE GO!

~************~

            Zelgadis checked his watch, rather irritated. She was late. The hands on the watch read five o'clock; school ended at four. He sighed, just what was she doing? And what did she want?

            "Zel! Sorry I'm late, Rezo made me help him clean the chalkboards AGAIN! How can you live him?" Lina appeared, walking around a corner, a slight smile on her face.

            Zelgadis shrugged, wondering just how he DID manage to survive with that nut case. "I have no clue. So, what's up?"

            "The sky," Lina said rather bluntly, with her Don't-be-so-stupid look on her face. "I was wondering if you wanted to go get some coffee?"

            Zelgadis raised an eyebrow at her, but offered his arm anyway. She smiled and accepted, and then led him towards the parking lot. "I know this great place, just near here! They have great coffee!"

            "Sounds good to me, the stuff in that school tastes awful. I haven't had a good cup all day," Zelgadis said, leading her to his car.

            "Doesn't your grandfather have coffee?" Lina asked, not bothering to open the door, but instead just hopping over it.

            "Yeah," Zel answered, slipping into the car and turning the key. "But I think he stocks up with the same manufacturer as the school," Lina giggled behind her mouth as she listened to the motor purr with satisfaction. 

            "So, which way?" Zelgadis asked, pulling the car out of the space it had occupied.

            "He down to Main like we're going to my house," Lina instructed, pulling her sunglasses out and placing on her face. "Then turn right at the stop light and head into the shopping center."

            "Got it," Zel said, nodding in confirmation. "Lina, do you know Amelia?"

            Lina turned to him, a little startled. "Yeah, how do you know her?"

            Zelgadis turned right and pulled into the shopping center and then began to look for a place to park. "She used to be my partner."

            Lina's eyes widened at that and she nearly fainted. "SO that's why she was so upset with me! She's mad at you for dumping her!"

            "Wait! I didn't dump her! I was never with her!" Zelgadis protested, getting out of the car with Lina in suit. "Though she had several fantasies telling her other wise," He added in a whisper.

            "Well, it still explains why she's so mad at me. But how did she know I was your new partner?"

            Zelgadis shrugged as Lina pulled him into a shop with a big neon sign that said "COFFEE, LUNCH, AND DINNER".

            They took a seat and Lina flagged a waitress over. "I'll have a coffee, black, and make it strong, You Zel?"

            "I'll have the same," He answered. He watched with an amused smirk as the waitress walked away with a smug expression, irritated that they hadn't ordered anything better. "So, why was having coffee so important?"

            Lina gave him a cute pout. "Oh… I'm not allowed to have coffee with you just for fun?"

            Zelgadis gave an amused laugh, and sighed as the waitress returned with their coffee. "Quick service, I know you Lina. You've got a reason, thanks."

            Lina smiled as she took her coffee. "Yeah, it's quick and tastes good too." She paused to take a sip before continuing. "All right, I have good news!"

            Zelgadis raised his eyebrows, silently asking her to elaborate, as he took a sip of his own coffee. 

            "I talked to Filia and she says that she's going to try and come up with a program for the next competition!" Lina exclaimed, smiling wildly.

            "So soon?" Zelgadis asked, putting down his coffee.

            "She says she thinks we're ready, apparently she talked with Syl and Gourry,"

            "Oh,"

            The two continued with their conversation. What neither of them noticed was the short brunette sitting at the next table over begin to tremble with rage.


	8. Coming home!

Chapter 8

Hey there, sorry it took me soooo long, things have been awful! Thanks for waiting patently, here is your reward! A brand new chappie! Oh, and a question, I tried to design the layout of the town so that you could actually picture it, like what roads go where, what intersections there are and where, did I do it right?

~***********~

            "So, where are we headed?" Lina asked as she leaned back in her seat. She stole a quick glance at the chimera behind the wheel and smiled lightly. "This isn't the route to my house,"

            And indeed it wasn't. They had passed her house and were driving through the mall's parking lot. 

            "My house," Zelgadis said as they emerged from the lot and onto a slightly bumpy trail. "I have to feed Rezo's little play things and get the mail, you don't mind, do you?"

            Lina waved it off with her hand. "Don't worry! I still haven't seen your house yet!"

            Zelgadis smiled as he slowed to an intersection. He waited a moment before turning to the right and driving down. Lina glanced at Zel quickly.

            "Say, can I put on the radio?" She asked, turning to look at him while pulling a few stray hairs out of her face. Zelgadis shrugged, and she dived in. (Not literally! Silly!) She turned the knob till she found something she liked.

            They drove until the came to a fork, in which Zelgadis turned right, onto a road called LoN Ct. They went down this road until Zelgadis pulled into the driveway of a nice looking house. The house had a rose garden in front, with a few (Lina fell over at this) Casablanca. 

"Casablanca? Where did you get these?" Lina asked as Zel went to the mailbox. "They're super rare! Especially in this area!" 

            Zelgadis unlocked the door while looking at the mail. He flipped through and stopped at a particular letter addressed to him. It was written in very neat handwriting, and in purple ink.

            "What'cha got there?" She asked as Zel turned on the light and led her through the main hallway to the living room. She took a seat on the couch, followed by Zelgadis.  

            "Heh, I got mail," He said, showing her the letter.

            "Who's it from?" She asked, leaning over to see. Zelgadis glanced at the return address.

            "New York!" He exclaimed and then proceeded in ripping it open. He pulled out a soft creamy colored paper with the same ink written on it, folded up. Another piece of paper fell out, and Lina picked it. It was a photograph of a young girl with soft brown, almost auburn, hair, deep blue eyes, and a soft smile. Lina handed him the photo and read over his shoulder.

            Hey there, bro!

Sorry it took so long, but Mrs. Martina is really tough! How are you and that crazy grandfather of ours? He's not torturing those pour little animals anymore, is he? I swear! You going to take car of that habit for me, aren't you? Oh, call me when you get this! I've got a surprise! Well,

            See you! Sayonara!      

            ~Michelle

            Lina read it through and looked at Zel. "Bro? Michelle? Zel?"

            Zel chuckled and smiled at her. "Michelle is my little sister. She's in New York going through special training for her skating." He explained.

            "Skating? She skates?" Lina asked, following him to the phone. He nodded as he punched in a few numbers and waited. Lina leaned over to listen.

            "Hi, you've reached my voice mail, but if you leave your name and" The answering machine said, and was interrupted by a young girl who had picked up the phone. "No no no no! I'm here, I'm here! Oh, shut up you stupid thing!" At this point they heard a big smash and the sound of metal be bashed. "I swear it, I spend more money on new answering machines then I do for food! Hi, this is Michelle," 

            "Mi, you have always been like that!" Zelgadis said, smiling happily.

            "Oh, wipe that bloody smirk off of your face, you big jerk!" Lina heard the voice say, laughing happily herself. "It's great to here from you! How's Amelia?"

            "Uh," Zelgadis said, a little surprised. "I wouldn't know, she isn't my partner anymore, and Lina, if you lean any closer you're going to go through me," Lina blushed and leaned back. "So, surprise, what is it?"

            Lina tapped the arm of the chair, waiting for Zelgadis to finish to tell her every thing.

            "Really? Sure, no problem! Wednesday? 4 o'clock? Okay, I might be a little late, okay. Tell Rezo? You're sure? Okay, see you then, bye." Zelgadis hung up the phone and turned to Lina.

            "Well?" She asked impatiently.

            "Michelle is coming down for a break!" He said, smiling in a way Lina hadn't seen him smile before. "Next Wednesday, at four!"

            Lina squealed and jumped up. "YAY! Wait, I don't even know this kid!"

            "Not now, at least. Would you like to help feed the animals?" 

            Lina stopped and looked at Zel. "Animal?"

            "Downstairs, Rezo uses them for his experiments. Michelle hated that, she loves animals, would you like to?"

            "Uh, sure?"


	9. Truce!

Chapter 9

Hello! Uh.. HERE WE GO!

~***************~

            The sound of people running up the wooden stairs echoed through out the house. Lina came bursting through the door to the basement. She waited briefly until Zelgadis came up after her and then slammed the door closed.

            "What was that?" She asked, panting heavily. She and Zel had just had an encounter with one of Rezo's "Experiments". 

            "That," He said, trying to calm himself. "Was Eris. She has never liked me much,"

            "Wait, he names these things?"

            "No, he didn't name her," Zelgadis said as he turned and headed into the kitchen. "She's his assistant, she lives down there,"

            Lina looked at the door, and then went after Zel. "Zel, you have a very weird home,"

            "Tell me something I don't know,"

            "You're just as crazy as they are?"

            "Yeah, HEY!"

            Wednesday, the one day of the week that seems to go by the slowest. You're so close to the weekend, and yet so far! These were the dreaded days of the school week.

            Lina walked down the hall to her first period. As usual, the preps were chattering about hair or something, the jocks were practicing; it was an average day.

            She walked through the door and took her seat between Filia and Zel. "Morning,"

            "Good morning!" Was chorused from the newly arrived Sylphiel and Gourry, as well as Filia and Zelgadis. Lina smiled, but that soft expression soon changed when Amelia entered. 

            Lina stood and walked over to Amelia's desk. "Look, why don't we settle this at lunch? Meet me at the steps," With that said, she turned and walked away.

            For the next few hours, everyone was either staring at her or at Amelia.

            Lunch came quickly, that is, as quickly as three hours can pass. Lina stormed out of the lunchroom, with Filia, Zelgadis, Gourry and Sylphiel following. Just as instructed, Amelia was waiting at the steps. Lina walked up and put her hands on her hips.

            "Do you mind telling me what, exactly, is your problem?" She demanded, watching the girl. Amelia had her head facing the ground, hiding her eyes from view.

            "You want to know my problem?" Amelia said through gritted teeth as she began to shake with rage. "You're my problem! Lina Inverse!" She raised her head and narrowed her eyes.

            "What did I do?" Lina exclaimed, looking harshly at the girl in front of her. 

            "You should know!" Amelia screamed, thrusting her fist straight into Lina's stomach. Lina went tumbling to the ground, this time she was the one looking at the ground.

            "Amelia, I don't want to hurt you," Lina said, looking up while brushing some dust off her shirt. Without waiting, Lina pulled forward, connecting her knee with Amelia's gut. She landed gracefully on her feet; Amelia wasn't so lucky. "But I will if I have too," 

            Amelia simply sat there, in shock. Her hand was still applying pressure to her stomach, to ease the pain. "You… You hit me!" She exclaimed, pointing at Lina. The two had soon been surrounded by a huge group of kids, making it hard to speak through all the shouts.

            "Well, actually," Lina said, looking up as though thinking. "I kneed you, sorry, it was kinda instant reflex,"

            Amelia looked surprised, to say in the least. Her eyes were still sprinkled with tears. She sighed, stood up and shook her head. "No, I was the one who struck first. I'm sorry, I was being irrational, truce?" Amelia held her hand out for Lina to shake. Lina looked at her, whether in surprise or shock, no one knew. After a moment, Lina shook Amelia's hand and offered a smile.

            "Truce!" She said, smiling. Lina then grabbed Amelia by the hand and dragged her towards the lunchroom. "Now, I have to talk with you about something,"

~**************~

Okay! Short and sweet, R&R for next chappie!


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